Knole House is full of highly honourable and deeply interesting associations with the past. Seen from a distance, the Mansion appears irregular; but, although the erection of several periods, and enlarged, from time to time, to meet the wants or wishes of its immediate occupiers, it exhibits few parts out of harmony with the whole; and presents a striking and very imposing example of the earlier Baronial Mansions, such as it was before settled peace in Britain warranted the withdrawal of all means of defence in cases of attack from open or covert enemies.--The neighbourhood, as well as “the House,” is suggestive of many sad, or pleasant, memories: from the summits of knolls in the noble and well-stocked Park, extensive views are obtained of the adjacent country; scattered about the wealds of Kent are the tall spires of scores of village churches; Hever--recalling the fate of the murdered Anna Boleyn and the destiny of the deserted Anne of Cleves; Penshurst--the cradle and the tomb of the Sidneys; Eridge--once great Warwick’s hunting-seat; the still frowning battlements of Tunbridge Castle;--these and other objects, within ken, demand thought and induce reflection; both of which obtain augmented power while treading the graceful corridors and stately chambers of the time-honoured [Illustration] Mansion. The walls are hung with authentic portraits of the great men of various epochs, who, when living, flourished here; not alone the noble and wealthy owners of the old Hall, but the worthies who sojourned there as guests--to have sheltered, aided, and befriended whom is now the proudest, as it will be the most enduring, of all the boasts of lordly Knole.[60]